Question

Teresa's sugar cookie recipe calls for 2 1/3 cups of sugar. How much

sugar will she need to make 2 1/2 batches?

Answer 1

5 5/6

Explanation:

Multiply 2 1/3 by 2 1/2. The easiest way (?!) is to change both mixed numbers to improper fractions (I dislike that name! It just means a numerator bigger than the denominator).

2 1/3 Multiply the denominator 3 by the whole number 2, add the numerator 1 to get 6+1 = 7. Place that over the denominator, 3. So 2 1/3 = 7/3.

2 1/2 Multiply the denominator 2 by the whole number 2, add the numerator 1 to get 4+1=5. Place that over the denominator, 2. So 2 1/2 = 5/2.

Multiply 7/3 by 5/2.

`(5)/(2) \cdot (7)/(3)=(35)/(6)`

Finally, convert the improper fractioin 35/6 to a mixed number by dividing 35 by 6 (6 goes into 35 5 whole times with 5 "left over"). The whole number part is 5 and the left over fraction part is 5/6.

5 5/6